Tag Archives: Teaching Children

This Book Can Preach. As the title suggests, the goal of this book is to teach the Gospel to kids. Well, in reading the book, the Gospel is preached to the reader over and over. Each time you open the book, there is the Gospel with incredible insight and creativity.

This Book Can Teach. Wow! The specific teaching lessons that are given in this book are incredible. Here’s a little teaser: The author takes the story of Balaam and the donkey and links it to the Gospel. It is amazing.

Honest & Humble. The author takes an honest approach to teaching children. Often, he humbly reveals his past mistakes and presents an honest view of what teaching children is like. You feel like you are in the classroom with him as he takes you on a journey teaching children the Gospel. It is a journey worth taking.

Break it Down. At the end of each chapter, the author provides a valuable breakdown for each reader. The general reader, the parent, the teacher, and the youth worker all get specific focus and breakdown at the end of each chapter. This practical application is invaluable to the reader and expands your audience to more than just children’s ministry teachers.

The Bad:

Flow River Flow. There were at times where the flow was not especially easy for the reader. It was almost like the author was so excited to share the material, he couldn’t contain the information.

Repetitive. The author repeats himself from time to time. The author repeats himself from time to time. I thought it was funny. I get it though, the author is making a point of reiterating the Gospel’s importance, but the repeating of material could have made the book more succinct.

The Grade: A-

Everyone in children’s ministry should purchase this book, especially the teachers. Buy it for your children’s director for Christmas (I just did, but shhhh, don’t tell him). This book does a fantastic job reiterating the importance of the Gospel, but it does not stop there. Klumpenhower gives the reader multiple resources, lessons, methods to teach the Gospel effectively to children on a consistent basis. Don’t know how to Show Them Jesus? Read this book, and you will know how to every time you have opportunity to teach kids. And if one kid comes to know Jesus from this book, it will be worth it.

If you learned anything from these blog posts on “How to Build a Spiritual Home”, it would be that it is hard work, and all of us have much to learn, do better, or correct. You see a home is not built by one swing of the hammer, or one pull of the electric drill trigger…it takes time, it takes effort, and it takes the proper foundation.

Let’s conclude with one of the more familiar passages of parenting: Proverbs 22:6 – Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Some of you may that know me already know this, but one of my best friends is my GPS. I am fairly directionally challenged. That little lady, who I named Gabby Garmin, tells me turn-by-turn how to get there, and if I make a wrong turn she is there to tell when to “make a legal U-turn”. Without that little device, it is unlikely I will get to my destination, or if I do, I will have to ask someone else for directions or risk being lost.

Listen, what this verse is saying is that you ARE the GPS for your child. It is your duty, responsibility to tell your child how to get to where they should go. And when they make a wrong turn, you have the opportunity to teach them how to make a “legal U-turn”. And listen, this part is key, without you…they will most likely look to others for direction – which could include peers, the media, or just themselves…and you risk your child being lost.

So I encourage you, use every opportunity you can to teach and guide your child. Never stop teaching, guiding, & listening. And you do that by building a foundation of God’s Word & a consistency in serving in God’s house, godly modeling and discipline, and finally love & attention.